Wall construction



Dec. 23, 1958 W; A. JACK WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed 001;. 15, 1953 INVENTOR//4M ,4 JcK WO JQ-M ATTORNEY This invention relates to 'a wallconstruction and more particularly to a wall construction of the typewherein a plurality of panels are arranged to form a facing over abuilding slab. While the construction of the instant invention isparticularly adapted for use in ceilings, it will be appreciated that itis also adapted for use in side walls as well.

It has long been the practice in installing paneled facings overconcrete or plaster building slabs to erect wooden furring strips towhich the panels are attained by means of nails or other fasteners; alsometal beams of varying configurations have been employed in conjunctionwith special clips for securing fiberboard panels in spaced relationswith the slab. In all of these prior arrangements considerable care mustbe exercised to install the supporting elements in relatively exactlocations, and it also is a common characteristic of these arrangementsthat undesirably greater strength is inherently supplied than isnecessary to support the facing.

One object of the present invention is to provide a simple, readilyinstalled panel-supporting construction in which only a minimum of careneed be exercised in poistioning the supporting elements.

A further. object of the present invention is to provide a wall facingconstruction in which the. panels are firmly supported by relativelylightweight, readily available elements.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects andadvantages thereof will become more apparent when reference is made tothe following detailed description and to the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Fig. l is a partial sectional view of the construction of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of a portion of the construction of Fig. 1;I

Fig. 3 is a partialjsectional view of a modified form of the invention;and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, there isillustrated a ceiling construction consisting of a facing suspendedbeneath a building slab 12. The facing 10 is composed of a plurality ofpolygonal panels 14 which are shown as slightly spaced apart for-clarityof illustration. These panels, which in actual practice are arrangedwith their edges abutting, form a facing having a tiled appearance andmay be formed of either perforated or imperforate fiberboard or othersuitable material. As used herein the term building slab refers to astructural wall'adapted to be covered by a facing whetherthe wall iscomposed of concrete, plaster or other materials,

and whether the wall is a ceiling or side wall.

Attached to the rear face of each panel 14 is a clip 16 which may beconstructed of bent strip metal or wire and is so arranged as to includea loop 18 and teeth 20. Preferably the clips 16 are of a type in whichteeth 20 are urged inwardly and downwardly into panel 14 when an upwardforce is applied at the loop 18, but it will be apparent that anysuitable loop or hook-providing means United States Patent ICC may beused so long as it firmly grips or is otherwise attached to the panel.The panel end of a coil spring 22 is inserted through the loop 18 whiletherslab. end. of the spring is inserted through the eye 26 of theibolt24 embedded in slab 12. Obviously, the bolt 24 may take the form of ahook. Where slab 12 is formed ofconcrete, bolt 24 may be embeddedtherein by use of a conventional bolt-driving gun, and where the slab isplaster, bolt 24 may take the form of the'familiar toggle bolt.

Insert-ed between each of the panels and the slab 12 is a plane-definingspacer means illustrated as consisting of one or more tube-like members28. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the members 28 arepositioned so as to overlap the adjacent corners of abutting panels 14,whereas in Figs. 3 and 4, tube-like member 28 is provided with a slot 30and placed in a position surrounding spring means 22. In either of theconstructions it will be noted that the spacer means must include asuificient number of panel contact points to define a plane, and wheretube-like members are employed, they should be arranged with their axesgenerally perpendicular to the facing and the slab. If desired thetubelike members 28 may be inserted in positions other than those shownso long as they meet the requirement of defining a plane of contact witheach panel. For example, in Fig. 1 the tube-like members 28 need notoverlap the edges of the outer panels but may obviously be positionedmore nearly adjacent clip 16 and entirely behind the central panel.

Members 28 may be advantageously formed from paper tubes, generallyknown as mailing tubes, it being pref erable to supply such tubes in avariety of diameters so that they may be nested for economical shipment.Also the spacer means may be supplied in the form of fiat or foldedsheets which are bent or arranged in the desired shape at the buildingsite. It will be apparent, however, that the spacer means may be made ofany lightweight material and may be formed into any shape which providesthe necessary plane-defining characteristic and has sufficient rigidityto withstand the collapsing force of the spring means 22.

In installing the construction of the present invention, the'bolts 24are first fixed in the slab 12 at positions spaced approximately inaccordance with the dimensions of panels 14. In actual practice it willbe found that no measurements need be taken to locate bolts 24 since theexact position of these bolts is not critical. The clip 16 are embeddedin the rear faces of the panels, and the ends of spring means 22 areinserted through the eyes 18 and 26. Tube-like members 28 are selectedto be of a length greater than the distance between the building slaband the rear faces of panels 12 when the panels are supported from theceiling by the spring means. The panels 14 therefore must be pulleddownwardly in order to insert tube-like members 28, and consequently,when the construction hasbeen installed, spring means 22 are undertension and resiliently urge each panel toward the building slab 12 andagainst tube-like members 28.

It will be apparent that the suspension means of the construction ofthis invention comprises readily available economical elements which arearranged in a manner not requiring the services of skilled artisans fortheir installation. The construction therefore provides a much moreeconomical arrangement than those in the prior art.

Having thus described my invention in rather full detail, it will beunderstood that these details need not be strictly adhered to but thatvarious changes and modifications may suggest themselves to one skilledin the art, all falling within the scope of the invention as defined bythe subjoined claim.

What I claim is: p

In a wall construction such as a ceiling, a building slab, a pluralityof polygonal panels having their edges substantially abutting to form asubstantially continuous planar facing over said slab, clip meanspartially embedded in the lower surface of said slab, coil spring meansremovably attached to said clip means and said bolt means andresiliently urging said panels toward said slab, elongated tubularspacers interposed between said panels and said slab, one end of saidspacers contacting the lower surface of said slab and the other end ofsaid spacers contacting the-upper surface of said panels, each spacerbeing in simultaneous contact with a plurality of said panels at theiradjoining edges, said spacers having their longitudinal axes generallyperpendicular to the plane of the panels,

and said spacers retaining said panels in co-planar relationship inresponse to the resilient urging of said springs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,623,338 Goldsmith Apr. 5, 1927 1,910,160 Gorman May 23, 1933 2,230,349Eaton et al Feb. 4, 1941 10 2,294,139 Strong Aug. 25, 1942 2,610,695Grue Sept. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 377,327 Great Britain July 28, 1932UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.2,865,195

December 23, 1958 William A. Jack Column 1, line 24, for "attained'!read attached column 3, line 4, after "in the" insert upper surface ofsaid panels, bolt means embedded in the Signed and sealed this 23rd dayof June 1959.

SEAL) ttest:

KARL Ho 'AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Oificer Commissioner ofPatents

